Onset of extensive human fire use 50,000 y ago
成果类型：
Article
署名作者：
Jiang, Shoushu; Zhao, Debo; Kaboth-Bahr, Stefanie; Beaufort, Luc; Tu, Hua; Lu, Zhengyao; Cheng, Zhongjing; Zhang, Shanjia; Zhong, Yi; Hao, Xiudong; Pei, Wenqiang; Cui, Guangqiang; Yang, Yifei; Lin, Anni; Huang, Jie; Wan, Shiming
署名单位：
Chinese Academy of Sciences; Institute of Oceanology, CAS; Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, CAS; Free University of Berlin; Aix-Marseille Universite; Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD); INRAE; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Shantou University; Lund University; Tongji University; Lanzhou University; Southern University of Science & Technology; Nanning Normal University; China West Normal University; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Institute of Oceanology, CAS
刊物名称：
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ISSN/ISSBN：
0027-11703
DOI：
10.1073/pnas.2500042122
发表日期：
2025-07-08
关键词：
black carbon
late pleistocene
human occupation
asian monsoon
loess plateau
east-asia
china sea
australia
HISTORY
terrestrial
摘要：
Fire is a pivotal aspect of human involvement in the carbon cycle. However, the precise timing of the large-scale human fire use remains uncertain. Here, we report a pyrogenic carbon record of East Asian fire history over the past 300,000 y from the East China Sea. This record suggests a rapid increase in fire activity since approximately 50,000 y ago, indicating a decoupling from the monsoon climate, and this pattern is consistent with fire histories in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Papua New Guinea-Australia regions. By integrating extensive archaeological data, we propose that the intensified global expansion of modern human and population growth, coupled with the rising demand for fire use during cold glacial periods, resulted in a significant increase in fire utilization from 50,000 y onward. This suggests that a measurable human imprint on the carbon cycle via fire likely predates the Last Glacial Maximum.